Archives West Finding Aid

353 architectural drawing sets representing projects designed from 1907 to 1971. The majority of the drawings were done by Cohagen, although a few represent work done by his partners and other architectural firms. The drawings directly attributed to Cohagen were designed under his own name, and under the corporate names of McIver and Cohagen, Cohagen and Williams, and McIver, Cohagen and Williams. The majority of the drawings pertain to projects in Montana and Wyoming, but a few other locations are represented. When first accessioned, the drawings were given sequential numbers starting from 1, but an agreement with the Western Heritage Center in Billings, Montana necessitated the transfer of specific drawing sets to that institution. As a result, the sequential numbering of these drawings represents gaps throughout the listing. Only the assigned drawing set number and the title assigned by Cohagen to the project are represented in this listing, and to assist researchers in locating specific drawing sets based on location or project genre a special online catalog is available. Click here for access to the Architectural Drawing Catalog. The drawings are stored flat in oversize metal cabinets, so there is no individual container listing for the following inventory of Series 1.

Project specification books for selected projects represented in Series 1. The booklets include stipulations for material, fixtures, processes, and other matters to be considered when contracting for construction of the buildings. Few of the drawing sets from Series 1 have corresponding specification booklets, but most within this series have been given the same titles and drawing set numbers. As a result, for boxes 1 through 10, the listings do not show the standard sequential folder numbers, instead the project numbers are used to indicate the folder placement. An important exception can be found in box 11, which contains specification booklets that have no corresponding drawing sets. These booklets have been placed in sequentially numbered folders.

This series consists of a small selection of inter-office memos and jottings that were removed from the context of any particular project before the material was donated, some printed material pertaining to buildings and their design, and photographs, including an album of Y.M.C.A. facilities in various states collected by Cohagen, likely in preparation for designing such facilities himself.